Gower Assembly Member, Rebecca Evans AM, has welcomed over a million pounds of Welsh Government funding for road safety and safe routes in Swansea.

The announcement comes as part of grant funding totalling nearly £11m to improve safe routes in communities and road safety across Wales.

Rebecca Evans AM said: “Improving the infrastructure to ensure that it is as easy, safe and enjoyable as possible for people to walk or cycle is really important.

“I am delighted to see areas of Gower benefiting from Safe Routes in Communities funding, including £329,000 for Clydach.”

There will be more than £120,000 additional funding to deliver a number of road safety programmes across Swansea, including programmes for cyclists and new drivers.

Rebecca Evans AM added: “Wales received international acclaim and recognition for its world-leading Active Travel legislation for good reason. Walking or cycling is great for wellbeing, and as well as being good for the environment and a way of tackling traffic build-up. I am glad to see our aspirations being backed up by investment.”

Gower Assembly Member, Rebecca Evans AM, is joining with Ovarian Cancer Action to mark World Ovarian Cancer Day by raising awareness of the symptoms.

Rebecca Evans AM said: “It is not the most talked about of health issues, but the reality is that ovarian cancer is a disease that kills one woman every two hours in the UK.

“82% of women are unable to name the four main symptoms of Ovarian Cancer, which means there is a lot of work to do.”

The four main symptoms are persistent stomach pain; persistent bloating; finding it difficult to eat or feeling full quickly; and needing to use the toilet more often.

Ovarian Cancer Action has reported that 70% of women said they would hope general health symptoms such as bloating or fatigue would go away so that they did not have to ask for time off work to see a GP. However an early diagnosis can indeed be lifesaving.

Mrs Evans added: “I would encourage all women to be aware of the symptoms, and go to the GP if anything seems amiss. Early diagnosis is vital.”

Rebecca Evans AM, Assembly Member for Gower, has called the continued increase in the use of Foodbanks across Wales, “a scandal.”

Mrs Evans said: “In Wales thenumber of food parcels given out across Wales has soared. In Gower alone, 7852three-day emergency food supplies were given to local people in crisis in the last year, with 2803of these going to children.”

One of the main issues leading to the increase in use of food banks is that it is taking five weeks for people entitled to receive Universal Credit to get their first payment, leading to individuals and families struggling to survive.

In the light of this, Rebecca Evans AM has written to the Secretary of State at the Department of Work and Pensions to call for an end to this damaging wait.

Mrs Evans added: ”More and more, we are also seeing working people also needing the help of food banks. Despite working one or more jobs, the cost of living and climate of politically-driven austerity means that many people are simply not bringing home enough money to survive. This is a devastating reflection of the choices that the UK Government is making and the impact those choices are having on people’s everyday lives.”

The declaration sends a clear signal that the Welsh Government will not allow the process of leaving the EU to detract from the challenge of climate change, which threatens our health, economy, infrastructure and our natural environment.

The announcement draws attention to the magnitude and significance of the latest evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and highlights the recent climate protests across the UK.

The latest advice on from the Welsh Government’s statutory advisory body the UK Committee on Climate Change on how meeting the goals in the Paris Agreement might affect Wales’ long-term climate change legislative targets is due at the end of the week.

Rebecca Evans AM said: “Tackling climate change is the defining issue of this generation and the Welsh Government is right to declare a climate emergency.

“All governments have a moral responsibility to act. Tackling climate change is not an issue which can be left to individuals or to the free market. It requires collective action and the Welsh Government has a central role in making that collective action possible.

“I hope this decision to declare a climate emergency inspires others to take action both here in Wales and around the world.”